Beatles Deal Cost MTV A Ton Of Money (Maybe Too Much)

Signing the Beatles (or at least the people handling their song rights) to a music game can't have been easy for MTV. And it definitely can't have been cheap. While not disclosing just how much MTV paid them for the rights to the Fab Four's tunes, Martin Bandier - who is CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing - has said:

There have been mutterings from artists and songwriters that they are not being offered their fair share in videogames, but the gamemakers have the leverage. In the world of rock, there are thousands of tracks that will work, but when you get into the world of unique artists, that leverage shifts, tremendously, to the artists and songwriters.

We signed a deal that would be considered very rich by the videogame company but fair for the artists. It will have online implications that will be enormous.